Towering feat: Philippe Petit to mark 50 years since death-defying World Trade Center high-wire walk next month

What Philippe Petit did 50 years ago in Lower Manhattan, on a cloudy August morning in 1974, will never be replicated.

Days before then-President Richard Nixon resigned amid the Watergate scandal, Petit stepped out onto an illegally-rigged wire linking the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on Aug. 7, 1974 in a death-defying high-wire walk that stunned and awed New Yorkers a quarter-mile below, and made them forget the political turmoil for a while.

Five decades later, with the Twin Towers now a painful memory following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that brought them down in horror, Petit himself is one of the few reminders of his daring walk between the 110-story skyscrapers. Now, as the 50th anniversary of Petit’s feat approaches, he will be making another memorable walk as part of a two-night celebration scheduled for Aug. 7-8 at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

“I urge people to come back from the beach for one evening, Aug. 7 [or] Aug. 8, for something that will never happen again,” said Petit, who will recreate scenes of the historic moment at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

Petit — whose World Trade Center walk was depicted in the 2015 movie “The Walk” starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt — will high-wire walk above the audience at the nave of the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, where he has been an artist in residence for over 40 years.

The event has been in the works with the cathedral for some time — unlike his 1974 Twin Towers walk, which was not sanctioned by the Port Authority, which owned the buildings.

Petit would be charged for trespassing, but those charges were ultimately dropped amid the positive publicity the Port Authority received for the caper — and Petit agreed to perform a free high-wire show for children in Central Park. He was even given a lifetime pass to the World Trade Center’s observation deck.

Philippe Petit lays on wire across the towers of the World Trade Center. Courtesy of Polaris.

As Petit walks above the crowd next month, his good friend Sting will delight the audience with multiple hits and a world premiere song dedicated to Philippe.

Additional performers include Molly Lewis Anat Cohen, grammy-award nominated Jazz clarinetist and Molly Lewis, musician and whistler.

“The show will have many surprises and many great performers, dancers, musicians, actors, singers and it’s gonna be, in my opinion, the most powerful and the most beautiful show in my life, in the place that is the most meaningful to me,” said Petit. “I am very happy that this will happen in one of the most beautiful places on Earth, the cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan.”

The event will support programs of the Cathedral and the preservation of Petit’s archives, which include his collections about the history of wire walking, knot tying, magic, world languages and many more of Petit’s interests.

“When I discovered the Cathedral, I met the Dean at the time, Dean Morton, who was much more than a keeper of a temple, he was opening the doors to all kinds of ways of life and even all kinds of religions and all kinds of art,” said Petit. “So he had theater, he had an exhibit of painting and then he had the high-wire walker in residence and that’s how I started to be associated with the church,” he added.

Petit has been working on this project to come together for years. Every aspect of it, from the performers to the lighting, were perfectly curated to be inspiring.

In addition, one of the show’s features will include debunking some of the myths, or as Petit calls it “confessions,” that have surrounded this historic event for 50 years.

“The truth is more beautiful and more unbelievable than the half-legend I built in the past,” said Petit.

Both shows begin at 8:30 p.m. For more information and ticket information, visit www.stjohndivine.org/philippe-petit-towering

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